Advance, O horses! Race furiously, O chariots! Let the warriors come forth—Cush and Put carrying their shields, men of Lydia drawing the bow.
Parallel translations
- WEB Go up, you horses; and rage, you chariots! Let the mighty men go out: Cush and Put, who handle the shield; and the Ludim, who handle and bend the bow.
- KJV Come up, ye horses; and rage, ye chariots; and let the mighty men come forth; the Ethiopians and the Libyans, that handle the shield; and the Lydians, that handle and bend the bow.
- NKJV Come up, O horses, and rage, O chariots! And let the mighty men come forth: The Ethiopians and the Libyans who handle the shield, And the Lydians who handle and bend the bow.
- NASB Go up, you horses, and drive wildly, you chariots, So that the warriors may march forward: Cush and Put, who handle the shield, And the Lydians, who handle and bend the bow.
- NLT Charge, you horses and chariots; attack, you mighty warriors of Egypt! Come, all you allies from Ethiopia, Libya, and Lydia who are skilled with the shield and bow!
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
The poem ironically urges Egypt's horses, chariots, and allied troops from Cush, Put, and Lud to advance. The mustering of mercenaries only hastens their shared defeat.
Overview
Egypt's army, reinforced by African and other allied soldiers, is summoned to battle in a tone of mocking irony. The named nations underscore the breadth of forces that will nonetheless fail. This gathering of multinational might against God's decree shows that no coalition of nations can withstand the Lord, whose purposes prevail and whose Son is given the nations as His heritage.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 11
- Isa 66:19I will establish a sign among them, and I will send survivors from among them to the nations—to Tarshish, Put, and the archers of Lud; to Tubal, Javan, and the islands far away who have not heard of My fame or seen My glory. So they will proclaim My glory among the nations.
- Ezek 27:10Men of Persia, Lydia, and Put served as warriors in your army. They hung their shields and helmets on your walls; they gave you splendor.
- Nah 3:9Cush and Egypt were her boundless strength; Put and Libya were her allies.
- Nah 2:3–4The shields of his mighty men are red; the valiant warriors are dressed in scarlet. The fittings of the chariots flash like fire on the day they are prepared, and the spears of cypress have been brandished.
- Acts 2:10Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya near Cyrene; visitors from Rome,
- 1 Cor 1:8He will sustain you to the end, so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.
- Gen 10:6The sons of Ham: Cush, Mizraim, Put, and Canaan.
- Jer 47:3at the sound of the galloping hooves of stallions, the rumbling of chariots, and the clatter of their wheels. The fathers will not turn back for their sons; their hands will hang limp.
- Gen 10:13Mizraim was the father of the Ludites, the Anamites, the Lehabites, the Naphtuhites,
- Jer 30:5Yes, this is what the LORD says: “A cry of panic is heard—a cry of terror, not of peace.
- 1 Chr 1:11Mizraim was the father of the Ludites, the Anamites, the Lehabites, the Naphtuhites,
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Christ at the center
Against the failure of false shepherds Jeremiah promises the Righteous Branch, 'The LORD our righteousness,' and the new covenant written on the heart and sealed in the blood of Christ.
How Jeremiah 46:9 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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